By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
With three weeks until NCAA Indoors, the UCLA track and field
squad returns to Northern Arizona University to compete at the MPSF
championships on Saturday.
The women have earned the No. 1 national ranking this season,
and are on their way to defending their 2000 Indoor title.
With two athletes automatically qualified for nationals and 11
on the provisional list, there are only two meets left for them to
qualify.
With runners, jumpers, vaulters and throwers all travelling to
the meet, the Bruins will have a large showing against regional
competitors such as Stanford and Arizona.
“It’s a tougher meet this weekend,” said Art
Venegas, men’s head coach and throws coach. “There will
be a lot of good athletes. It’s a championship-style meet, so
it’s more structured so there will be no coaches allowed on
the field.
“Basically, it’s up to them.”
The distance squad wants to improve on earlier strong
performances. Starting off well at the Penn State Invitational, the
runners have had good races since, with several personal records
set, but are still looking for qualifying times.
“We just have to move to that next level,”
UCLA’s assistant distance coach Helen Lehman-Winters said.
“They’ve been running solidly, with PRs, but
they’re just off of where they need to be to be competing at
that next level.”
The throwers have been consistently successful this indoor
season, with senior Christina Tollson automatically qualified for
NCAA in both the shot put and weight throw with marks of 55-feet-4
3/4 and 67-7 1/4, respectively. Provisionally qualified for the
women are sophomore Carrie Soong in the weight throw, and freshman
Jessica Cosby and junior Chaniqua Ross in the shot put.
On the men’s side, junior Scott Moser and sophomores Scott
Wiegand, Jack Clamon and Dan Ames have all provisionally qualified
in the shot put.
“We’re throwing a lot better indoors than we did
last year at this time,” noted Venegas.
Female jumpers and vaulters competing will include senior high
jumper Deana Simmons, who is at the top of the provisional list,
and junior pole vaulter Tracy O’Hara, who has already
automatically qualified.
In the jumps and vaults for men, competitors will include
freshman long jumper Oliver Jackson, who won the long jump last
weekend with a mark of 24-8 1/4, and pole vaulters senior Steve
Michels and sophomore Jared Drake, whose seasonal best of 16-9 1/2
are just inches away from the provisional qualifying mark.